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Paul Reiser says his real family has issues with his TV family

April 15, 2011 | 11:15
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Paul Reiser has two families — his real one with a wife and two children, and his TV family, which has a wife and two children.

Reiser said his real family tries to influence what his TV family does on "The Paul Reiser Show," his comedy on NBC that premiered Thursday. In the series, Reiser models his character on his life, playing the star of "Mad About You" who is trying to determine his next career move.

"My family had total veto power," Reiser said in the first session of NBC/Universal's summer press day, in which NBC and several of NBCUniversal's cable network unveiled some of its series. "My kids didn't care about who played them, but they wanted Angelina Jolie to play their mom."

Embarrassing moments from real events were not off-limits. "My kids said, 'Dad, you cannot tell the vomiting-in-the-car story.' Then I just tell them it's from [executive producer Jonathan Shapiro]'s family.

The series premiered to lackluster ratings on its first outing, but publicists for the show pointed out that the series retained almost all of the audience from its lead-in, "Community," and that it was up against powerhouse "American Idol."